Businesses feel Main construction squeeze

Since September, North Main Street has been a construction zone. Bunky Mastin, co-owner of The Wine & Cheese Gallery, said a slower than expected pace has started to frustrate business owners.

By Christopher CurryStaff writer

Since September, the stretch of North Main Street in front of The Wine & Cheese Gallery has been a construction zone.Work crews first repaved the west side of the road and, since January, have been working on the east lanes. Bunky Mastin, co-owner of The Wine & Cheese Gallery, said a slower than expected pace of work has started to frustrate business owners and affect their livelihood."I think it will be great when it's finished," Mastin said. "In the meantime, we're all taking a big hit."Standing at his shop's front counter Monday, Mastin estimated his lunch business is down 40 percent since construction started. He said some potential customers are not willing to drive through the construction area to get to the business.The approximately $6 million reconstruction project stretches from the intersection of South Main Street and Depot Avenue north to the intersection of North Main Street and Eighth Avenue. It includes narrowing the roadway from four lanes to two lanes, reconstruction of the road with bike lanes and on-street parking. Jacksonville-based J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc. is the construction firm.Since early January, detours on South Main Street have prevented through traffic from using that stretch of roadway to travel between University Avenue and Southwest 16th Avenue. That has already led some store owners on South Main to worry about the viability of their businesses."Everybody says, 'We want to come to you, but we can't get to you,' " Phyllis Murray, owner of Long Bones BBQ and Soul Food, told The Gainesville Sun in a February interview.North of University Avenue, North Main Street has remained open to through traffic during construction. But that has not prevented businesses along that stretch of road from being impacted by construction."I think the problem is more in people's minds - that it is difficult to drive down here," said Mastin. "There's a perception that it is worse than it is."Charles George, owner of Phil-Nicks restaurant on North Main, said most of his business comes from walk-in breakfast and lunch customers who work nearby. Sitting in a nearly empty restaurant Monday afternoon, George said that walk-in customers also have started to avoid the construction area.

"They're just killing these businesses," he said of the ongoing construction.Laurie Windham, a project spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, said construction work on North Main is "a little bit behind schedule" because of weather delays but the entire project may still be completed in spring 2011 as initially expected. She said paving of the east side of the road should be done by April 6 or April 7, although that will not mean the end of construction work there.Windham said striping to mark lanes and parking spaces will follow and the final coat will not be applied to the road until the whole project is near completion.Contact Christopher Curry at 374-5088 or chris.curry@gvillesun.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.